Stanford worked at the Portland Daily Journal of Commerce, then The Oregonian copy desk in 1978. It was there that he met and collaborated with Thomas Cekay to produce a book titled Rage Against the Dying Light about gillnet fishing on the lower Columbia River, which was privately published. This project, which took about a year to complete, was undertaken during a time of decreasing salmon runs and increasing environmental oversight and regulations. The two spent their days off with the gillnetters in Wahkiakum County, gaining their trust and documenting their stories, with Stanford taking the photos and Thomas writing the text. Some of these photographs were used in the book.